Postrelease monitoring habitat selection by reintroduced burchell's zebra and blue wildebeest in southern Mozambique

Abstract

Aim In Africa, reintroduction of wild animal species to conservation areas is a common practice, for the recovery or restoration of populations. Effective monitoring of reintroduced species requires understanding of basic ecological requirements such as habitat selection of these species in the new environment. Therefore, the present study investigated the habitat selection of zebra and wildebeest following their reintroduction into Maputo Special Reserve, south Mozambique, and we use binary logistic analyses to investigate the relative influence of biotic and abiotic factors in determining the habitat use. Location Maputo Special Reserve, south Mozambique. Methods We conducted the study from July 2016 to June 2017. The data were collected by direct observation, driving the vehicle along the reserve's roads that covered the vegetation communities where zebras and wildebeest are known to commonly occur. Habitat selection was calculated using selection indices (Manly's alpha), and binary logistic analyses were used to investigate the relative influence of biotic and abiotic factors in determining the habitat use. Results The arboreal savanna was the preferred habitat by both herbivore species. Habitat use of zebra appeared to be strongly determined by characteristics such as high grass cover, high grass greenness, and distance to water, while the habitat use by wildebeest, was strongly affected by grass height. Main conclusions Both zebra and wildebeest prefer arboreal savanna, forage selection likely drove preference of this habitat. Greater grass cover and greater percentage greenness of the grass both significantly increased the odds of zebra use of habitat, whereas the odds of use decreased with increases in distance to water, meaning an opportunity to ingest large amounts of grass biomass with higher quality, and this opportunity decreases with increasing in distance to water. Grass height was in the highest‐ranking model predicting habitat use by wildebeest, and during the dry season the use of habitat increased with increasing grass height, suggesting that selecting areas with tall grasses by wildebeest equated to choosing areas with higher grass quantity, as the food intake rate increases with grass height.

Peer Review #3 of "Habitat association in the critically endangered Mangshan pit viper (Protobothrops mangshanensis), a species endemic to China (v0.1)"

“…Our data indicated that the probability of snake detections was positively correlated with a relatively short distance to water, which was consistent with other studies in that the proximity to water is important for snakes (Brito, 2003;Halstead, Wylie & Casazza, 2010;Sprague & Bateman, 2018). In addition, by employing camera traps we observed that small mammals were more abundant in habitats that were relatively close to water (B Zhang, X Ding & D Yang, personal observations, 2018-2019. Such habitats might provide improved foraging opportunities to Mangshan pit viper.…”

Habitat association in the critically endangered Mangshan pit viper (Protobothrops mangshanensis), a species endemic to China

“…In addition, by employing camera traps we observed that small mammals were more abundant in habitats that were relatively close to water (B. Zhang, X. Ding & D. Yang, 2018-2019. Such habitats might provide improved foraging opportunities to Mangshan pit viper.…”

“…Effective conservation and management of species depends on an understanding of habitat requirements, particularly if these aspects change seasonally. This is especially the case for species susceptible to habitat loss or fragmentation (Willems & Hill, 2009;Ali et al, 2017;Mandlate, Cuamba & Rodrigues, 2019). However, information related to habitat requirements is often scarce when a species has low population densities, narrow and remote habitat, receives little low public attention, and when venomous animals can endanger investigators (Rechetelo et al, 2016;Sutton et al, 2017;Leite et al, 2018).…”

Review: The status of the endangered Eld’s deer (Rucervus eldii) and conservation actions in Thailand

“…Post-release monitoring is a very useful tool to evaluate animals' fitness and further strengthen wildlife management practices (Myers and Young 2018;Mandlate et al 2019;Prosekov et al 2020). The effective monitoring of an endangered population, and associated conservation planning, requires detailed information relating to behavioral and demographic information (Bhattarai and Kindlmann 2018).…”